Kutcher HQ gets second Facebook run

Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Media has launched a second season of original web series KatalystHQ on Facebook, working once again with social entertainment specialist Slide.

KatalystHQ, a mockumentary similar in style to The Office, became the first original web production to launch on Facebook in February and now a second instalment has followed the same route, going live yesterday.

The show follows Kutcher and fellow Katalyst Media staffers in their corporate headquarters and uses Slide’s FunSpace Facebook application as its distribution platform.

The first 12-episode season, which was sponsored by Cheetos, resulted in more than eight million video posts on Facebook as the social network’s users spread the series virally, according to Slide.

The second series of shorts has an expanded 16-week run and Nestlé Hot Pockets is on board as sponsor.

“Season one of KatalystHQ is proof that serialized web content can achieve the same level of engagement and reach as that of traditional television,” said Kutcher. “We expect this upcoming season to once again attract an audience that is comparable to that of primetime programming on cable networks.”